One By One
by RJJ036
Summary: A Stiles-Lydia story that takes place in 3B. First POV, alternates every chapter. Will include other characters.
1. Someone to Talk To (Stiles)

I walked into school with my head held high. Scott and I walked down the school's main hallway. My eyes quickly went to Lydia, who was leaning against the lockers as Aiden did his best to impress her. Was I a little upset that the moment after Lydia's panic attack-stopping kiss was tarnished and she was already back together with Aiden? Yes, but I'll have to get over it, I guess.

After stopping by our lockers, Scott and I walked into our English class, which we had with Allison and Lydia. Ever since Scott found out how close Allison and Isaac have been getting, he's been desperate to get back together with her, even if it means sitting next to her in English class, leaving me to sit on the other side of the classroom. The bell rang and Lydia rushed in, which was weird because she was always in class before the warning bell even rang. I realized the seat next to me was the only available and let out a sigh when Lydia spotted it.

"Hey," she says, placing her purse down before sitting down.

I take a few seconds to think of a response; should I rant about how Aiden is only going to break her heart just like Jackson? Or should I just admit my true feelings? "Hi," I say back.

"I haven't heard from you in a while. How are you Stiles?" she asks me.

"Good," I lie. The truth is I haven't been sleeping for a few days. I mean, I'll go a week of sleeping, then three straight days of no sleeping. The reason? Some creepy guy in my dreams saying he was going to destroy "you all, one by one". Who was he referring to as "you all"? I don't have any idea.

"That's good," Lydia says, forcing herself to smile. We share eye contact for just about three seconds before our English substitute came running in.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone! My name is…" the substitute droned on from then on. As if the class was only seconds, the bell rang and people started getting up out of their seats.

"Stiles, are you okay?" Lydia asks me as she and I begin gathering our things.

"Yeah, why?" I stand and put the backpack on my back and start walking out of the classroom, the strawberry girl less than a step behind me.

"Because less than five minutes after class started, you began writing all over your notebook," Lydia says as we make our way towards the library doors.

"What was I writing?" I ask.

" 'One by one'," Lydia responds. "Stiles, please tell me nothing supernatural is starting again." I hesitate with my response causing Lydia to let out an annoyed and upset groan. "Stiles, what the hell does 'one by one' mean?"

"I don't have any idea. It's something I've been hearing in my dreams," I say.

"Is that why you haven't been sleeping?" she asks me.

"What are you talking about? I've been sleeping," I say as I shift my weight from foot to foot.

"That's complete bull. I've been friends with you long enough to know when you haven't been sleeping. And I'm not surprised Scott hasn't noticed anything since he's been following Allison around like a lost puppy, which I find extremely ironic because…y'know," Lydia lingers before making makeshift claws with her fangs and growls like a wolf, causing me to crack a smile.

"Alright, so I haven't been sleeping. We're high school students, Lydia, it's the norm to not sleep," I say defensively.

"Is it also normal for high school students to write 'one by one' all over their notebook and have no recollection of ever doing so? No, didn't think so," Lydia starts before taking a deep breath. "Stiles, just tell me what is going on with you. Please."

I let out a sigh after seeing the sincerity shine through her green eyes. "Alright, c'mon," I say as I hold open the door to the library. Lydia walks through the door and I follow her inside.

We sit at a table found in the back corner of the library. "So what does this 'one by one' stuff have to do with you?" Lydia asks me.

"I've been having these dreams, nightmares seem like a more accurate description, and this guy has been saying 'I will destroy you all, one by one'. That's why I go for days without sleeping," I tell her.

"Who's saying that to you?" Lydia asks me.

"I don't have any idea. Whenever he says it to me, I'm always by myself, surrounded by darkness. It's from the darkness," I respond.

"Does the guy come every night?" she asks.

I shake my head. "When I finally get to sleep after going days without it, I don't hear anything. But maybe two days later, he comes back," I explain.

"He's coming back when your guard is down," Lydia states. "When you get sleep, your fearing that he'll come back, so your guard is up. But after a few days you have this sense of security, you feel like this darkness guy won't come back, and then there he is."

"Damn, Lydia, that actually makes a lot of sense. You're really smart, you know that?" I say.

"I've heard a few times," she says with that heartmelting smile of her's. She stands. "I gotta go meet Aiden. Text me if this guy starts Freddy Krueger-ing you again, all right?"

"Yeah, sure. I will," I promise her. Lydia smiles and begins to walk away. She disappears behind a shelf when I get up from the chair and hurry after her. I manage to catch up to her before she leaves the library. "Lydia!" I say loudly.

She turns to face me. "Yeah, what?"

"Thanks for talking to me about this. It was nice to have someone to talk to," I say.


	2. Staring At Me (Lydia)

I smile at Stiles' words. "No problem. Talk to you later," I respond. I turn back around and walk out of the library. Do I feel kind of bad just leaving Stiles in the library? Yes, but I can't think about him right now. Why? Because the only thing on my mind is that yummy Alpha down the hallway; I guess "yummy" is a little juvenile, but I don't care, Aiden is hot.

He leans against the door to the storage closet. Cliché, right? I feel like I'm in some John Hughes movie. Aiden pulls me in unexpectedly, causing me to squeal, in turn causing Aiden to laugh. "What's so funny?" I ask him.

"You're just so goddamn sexy, you know that?" he responds. Wow, going from being called smart to being called sexy; it looks like I'm getting a lot of compliments today.

Aiden pulls me in for a kiss as he opens the door with his other hand. We walk into complete darkness. My hand fumbles for the light switch, but I manage to turn them on. Aiden rips off his shirt and begins to unbutton my blouse.

I pull my lips apart from his. Aiden furrows his brow and asks, "What's the matter?"

I shrug. Aiden smirks and lean in to kiss me once more, but I push him away. "Pushing you away means you shouldn't lean back in," I snap at him.

"Somebody is being rather feisty this morning," Aiden snaps back.

My eyes roll. "Sorry, I'm not up for our regular rendezvous today. I have a lot on my mind," I say, beginning to button my blouse.

"What's up?" he asks me.

I avoid his eye contact as I answer him, "No offense, Aiden, but I don't think it concerns you." After that, I quickly exit the closet and gather my things I dropped when Aiden grabbed me. I'm halfway down the hallway when I hear Aiden slamming the storage closet door shut in frustration.

* * *

After a class period of a horribly boring physics class, I find myself in the cafeteria – looking for a place to sit. Allison's out of the question because I see she's sandwiched in between Scott and Isaac. On the other side of the cafeteria, I spot Stiles. Books surround him as he stuffs his face with macaroni and cheese. I make my way over to him.

"Hey," I say as I sit down. Stiles rips his eyes away from a book he's reading. I can't help but notice his brown eyes lighting up and him doing his best to surpress a smile as he lays is eyes on me.

"Lydia! What are you, uh…what are you doing here?" he asks me. He does his best to gather all of the books and papers before I get a proper look at what he's reading. I manage to grab a piece of paper away from his grasp. Stiles sighs as I read over it.

"Why are you reading about PTSD and its affects on the victim's dreams, Stiles?" I ask him. "Does this have anything to do with that weird mystery guy in your dreams?"

"I just want to make sure what I'm thinking is correct," he tells me. Stiles looks up and continues, "I just want to make sure that whatever is going on with me is supernatural, and I'm not loosing my freaking mind."

"Stiles, you need to talk to Scott about this. He'll ask Derek or Deaton," I suggest.

Stiles shakes his head. "I can't get him involved with my problems. I'll have to figure this all out by myself," he says before going back to reading.

"Whatever you say," is all I say. I start to eat my salad.

* * *

Hours later, I find myself sitting on my bed, taking notes for my physics class. Suddenly, my eyesight goes blurry and a few seconds later, it goes back to normal. I notice what's now on my paper; nothing related to physics at all. Just two words, over and over: "help me". I don't have to think about what this means, or better yet – who: Stiles.

I rush out of my bedroom, throwing on a coat. I find my phone and call him. "Stiles! Is everything okay?"

I hear him gasping for air. "Panic attack," he manages to say. With that, I'm flying out of my house and to my car.

"Don't move, I'm coming over right now," I say, then hanging up.

I get to Stiles' house in ten minutes. His front door's open, his dad must still be at work. I run upstairs and find Stiles on his bathroom floor. "Stiles!" I yelp, hurrying over to him.

"Lydia…help…me," he sputters out between gasps for air. I see that he's sweating profusely.

"Stiles, remember what I told you! Hold you breath," I say to him, but he must not hear me because he continues to gasp for air.

"I saw her," he sputters out.

I don't know what to do. What I can do? I grab the back of his head and pull him in close, just inches from my face. "Stiles! Please, you have to hold your breath," I advise him.

"I can't!" he says. I see tears streaming down his cheeks like waterfalls. I can see him hurting through his brown eyes.

"Stiles," I say one more time, softly. Then I do it again. I kiss him. It's like we're in the locker room again, dealing with his first panic attack. After ten seconds, he pulls away.

"I held my breath again," he tells me, swallowing.

"I know…I could tell," I tell him. I glance around for a few seconds. When I go back to look at him, I notice he's staring at me. "I better get going."

"I know this going to sound childish," Stiles starts. He takes a breath. "But will you just stay…please?"

I look deep into his brown eyes and nod subconsciously.


	3. Stay Away From Me (Stiles)

I smile at the sight of Lydia nodding. She takes her hands off of me quickly and wipes them on the skirt of her dress. "Just shower first, okay? Your clothes are soaked with sweat," she says, smiling a little bit.

"God that's disgusting," I agree as I peel the shirt off of my stomach. I lift the shirt over my head, taking it off. I know that I'm not as "ripped" as someone like Scott, Derek, or Aiden, but I do know that I have some sort of muscle on me, and I can't help but notice Lydia's eye lingering on me as I stand. "Uh, do you mind?"

I seem to snap her out of her trance. "Right, sorry. Go ahead and shower, I'll be downstairs," she starts for the door. She soon turns back to look at me. "Your dad isn't going to walk in to see me awkwardly sitting on the couch, is he?"

I can't help but smirk at the thought. "He's out of town, down in San Diego for a few days. He wanted to take a few days off after that whole Darach thing a few weeks ago," I tell her.

"That's…good," she says. She turns and exits the bathroom.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, I find Lydia curled up on the lumpy couch in the barely used living room. The television was on to some late night romantic comedy from the eighties. She had a blanket laid over her that my parents had from before I was born. I sat down at the opposite side of the couch. "So, what happened to you tonight?" she asks me.

I let out a low sigh. "It was like any other nightmare. You know, like the ones I was telling you about; me in surrounded by darkness, with that weird guy telling me he was going to destroy us all, blah, blah, blah," Stiles explains.

"So what made you have a panic attack?" she asks me.

"For some reason, I had this crazy idea to chase after him. I finally caught up to him. But it wasn't him-," his voice hitches.

"Who was it?" Lydia says, leaning up.

I hesitate. "It was my mom," I tell her.

"So your mother was the one who was telling you that she was…going to destroy us…all?" she asks me.

I shake my head. "But that's just it, though, it wasn't her. It was her, like she was standing there, but it wasn't actually her. Her voice wasn't like I remembered it. It wasn't sweet like I remember it, it was harsh and cold, like something was in her," I explain. "That's what caused me to have that panic attack."

"Do you think that whatever is causing you to have these nightmares is using your mother to "destroy" you all? I mean, he probably doesn't mean that he's actually going to "destroy" in the sense of killing you, but he could "destroy" by causing you to go…," Lydia starts before I cut her off.

"Insane?" I finish.

"Yeah…," Lydia can't help but agree.

* * *

I don't remember falling asleep, but I do remember waking up. I find myself in my normal nightmare surroundings: surrounded by black and me standing in a spotlight. "Stiles. I'm going to destroy you all. One by one," the familiar raspy voice tells me from the surrounding darkness. It sounds like nails on a chalkboard.

"What do you want from me?" I ask the voice.

"You know what I want, Stiles," the voice responds to me. I hear coming from my left.

"Why me? Why not someone else?" I ask.

"Because you're not like the others, Stiles. You're not strong like Allison or Scott. You're…," the voice begins.

"Human," I finish the sentence.

"Yes," the voice purrs. I can hear it coming from my right. I don't hesitate anymore. I break away from standing still, and chase towards the voice. "Silly boy! You will never catch me!" I don't bother listening to the voice. I just continue running after the voice. It's the like the ground suddenly becomes quicksand and I fall through it.

I fall onto the ground right in front of my couch. It's my house; but at the same time…it's not. "Come and find me, Stiles," the voice challenges me. I quickly stand and hurry to the kitchen. No one's there, but I find a large knife – the only weapon I have. I grab it and listen. "Come to me. Challenge me," the voice challenges me. It comes from behind the door to the basement. I open the door and walk down the dark staircase; the wooden stairs creak under my weight. As I reach the basement floor, I turn on the lights. "You're close, Stiles. But not close enough."

I turn around quickly and start walking slowly towards the back area of the basement, which my father and I use for storage. "I know you're here," I state. I make my way towards the back shelf.

"Stiles," I hear. But it doesn't belong to the raspy voice. It's higher. "Stiles!" I keep walking. "Stiles! Stiles!" I see a dark shape crouching behind a shelf. I raise the knife in my hand high above my head. "STILES! YOU HAVE TO WAKE UP!"

* * *

My eyes snap open. I have a knife in my hands but I don't remember ever grabbing. I'm sweating more than I was during my panic attack. On the ground before me, Lydia is backing up, her eyes wild. "Stiles! What were you doing?" Lydia says.

It suddenly clicks in my mind. I was sleep walking, and the voice in my dream was actually Lydia. I was chasing Lydia. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," I say, dropping the knife with a loud clanging noise. My eyes go wet. Lydia gets up from the floor, but I back away. "No! You have to stay away from me, Lydia. I'll just end up hurting you."

"Stiles, you need help," she says.

I continue backing away from her. I turn and run up the stairs, Lydia chases after me. I dash through the kitchen and then the living room. I rush through the front door and across the front yard. I hear Lydia calling out after me, but I just continue to run. I don't even stop when I get to woods.


	4. From the Bushes (Lydia)

"Stiles! Stiles come back!" I yell at the now disappeared boy. I let out a sigh and fall to the ground. What is going with him? He doesn't want the help from Scott, but I have no one else to turn to. I pull out my phone and call him.

"Lydia? What's the matter?" he asks me as soon as he picks up.

"It's Stiles. He's gone," I respond.

"Gone?"

"Gone. He had this weird nightmare, I nearly killed me, I then snapped out of it and ran off. Scott, something is seriously wrong with Stiles. It's been going on for weeks," I tell him.

"Call Allison and Isaac. I'll get the twins. We'll meet you at Stiles' house," he tells me.

"Alright, but hurry up. He ran off into the woods," I tell him.

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Allison and Isaac came running out Allison's car. "Lydia, what is going on?" Allison asks me.

"It's Stiles. There's something wrong with him. I think it has something to do with that sacrifice you, Scott, and Stiles did weeks ago," I guess.

"But where is he?" Isaac asks me.

I shrug. "He ran off after he-," I realize I should be leaving that detail about the basement out of my story.

"After he what, Lydia?" Allison asks me.

"Alright, so he started sleep walking and he thought I was some guy haunting is dreams and he attacked me with a knife," I say, doing my best to make is sound nonchalantly as possible.

"He attacked you?" Isaac asks me, stunned.

"Haunting his dreams?" Allison asks.

"Yes and yes. Allison, is anything up with you? No person haunting your dreams or anything?" I ask her.

I see Allison and Isaac exchange sideways glances. She turns back to me with a smile, "Nope. I'm all good."

"Guys! What is going on?" Scott's voice comes from behind us. We turn to see Scott walking towards us, flanked by Aiden and Ethan. Crap, how am I going to explain me being this late Stiles' house to Aiden?"

"I told you, Scott. Stiles just ran off," I tell him.

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Aiden asks me, putting a protective arm around my shoulders, which is the last thing I want right now. I just cross my arms in response.

"So what do you want us to do?" Ethan asks me.

"Hmm, well considering that four of you are werewolves and we have a werewolf hunter, I was hoping that you could, oh I don't know, find him?" I say, with such a bitchy tone I'm not surprised they all just walk away from me right there and then.

"Alright, guys, try to catch his sent. Allison, try to find his tracks," Scott orders. They all nod and get to work. Scott turns to me. "We're going to find him, Lydia." He smiles and pats me on the shoulder. He goes off to find Stiles' scent, but he turns back. "What were you doing here so late?"

"He had a panic attack. I helped him with one he had earlier, so he asked me help him this time," I explain to him.

"And you had to come over?" he asks me. I see a smirk growing on his face.

"Yes!" I exclaim, causing the others to turn back towards us. I take a step towards Scott and lower my voice. "What is the big deal, anyways?"

"Nothing, it's just that Stiles told me about what happened with the panic attack last time," Scott says, fully smiling. I give him an aggravated look. "Did it end like the last one did?"

"I swear to God, Scott, if you mention this to anyone, I will do my freaking Banshee scream, wail, whatever, right in your ear," I say threateningly. Scott walks away, knowing the answer to the question that didn't need answering. "Get to work!"

"Guys, I got something," Isaac states. We all run over to him.

"Got it," Aiden says.

"Same," Ethan adds.

"Same for me," Scott states. "Allison, got his trails?"

"Without a shadow of a doubt," Allison says.

"Alright, let's go," Scott says. The group all start heading off towards the woods.

"Wait!" I exclaim. The group turns back to me. "What about me? I'm not just going to stay here."

"I guess she's right," Isaac says, agreeing with me.

"I can give you a piggy back ride if you want me to," Aiden suggests. I sigh and climb on his back.

"Alright, let's go," Scott states. We all enter the woods.

* * *

We don't take long finding Stiles. He's huddled against a large oak tree. He's shivering when we reach him. "There!" Allison points out. I quickly hop off of Aiden's back and hurry over to Stiles.

"Stiles," I say. He looks up at me. I see he is no longer crying.

"Lydia!" he responds. He then notices the others behind me. "What are all of you doing here?"

"Lydia called us. She was worried about you," Scott answers before I can.

"Really?" Stiles asks, looking up at me.

"Yeah," I say. I open my mouth to say something else, but the loud growl of an unseen force causes me to snap my mouth shut. "What was that?"

"Not a werewolf," Allison states, causing the werewolves in the group to unleash their claws. Seconds pass then a fox jumps out from bushes. I see it's eyes that it has chosen its target: Stiles.


	5. From Down the Hallway (Stiles)

I freeze at the sight of the fox jumping towards me; it's pearl white teeth glistening in the moonlight. Then, all of the sudden, I hear a whine of an injured dog and look up. I see that Scott as tackled the fox out of the air. The fox quickly regains itself as Scott gets to his feet. Scott swipes at it, but the fox easily outmaneuvers him. The fox launches itself at Scott, using his chest as a fault, and flies through the air, over all of our heads, and runs off into the woods.

"What was that?" I ask, my voice shaky.

"Just a fox," Aiden states.

"What type of fox attacks humans?" Lydia asks, her eyes widened in fear.

"Lydia's right, it's as if that fox had its eyes set on Stiles," Scott adds.

"What the hell does a fox want with me?" Stiles asks.

"Can we talk about this later, I'm really tired," Aiden says, earning glares from everyone in the group, me especially. "Sorry."

"Let's talk about it at school tomorrow, alright?" Scott asks. We all nod our heads in agreement and make our way back towards my house.

"Lydia, can I talk to you for a second?" I hear Aiden ask Lydia from a few feet ahead of me. I silently sneak behind a tree to be within earshot.

"What's up?" Lydia asks.

"What were you doing at Stiles' house tonight?" Aiden asks. I can hear how upset he is in his voice. It comes out almost like a growl.

"Just helping him out with some school stuff," Lydia says.

"He couldn't call Scott?" Aiden asks.

"Aiden, why are you so worked up about this?" I hear Lydia ask. I can just see her cross her arms without being able to see her.

"Because I smell him on you," Aiden growls.

"Well that's because I was at his house…which you know," Lydia states.

"It's stronger. As if you hugged him or even kissed him," Aiden guesses, causing Lydia breath to catch her breath. "I knew it."

"Aiden, it didn't mean anything," Lydia claims, causing me to clench my fists in such frustration I'm surprised blood isn't dripping from palms.

"I want to think that, but you two have been spending a lot of time together, and I see how you have looked at him ever since you had to be his anchor, or whatever you want to call it," Aiden states. "So, I'm done."

"Aiden! I think you're overreacting here," Lydia says, trying to reason with him.

"Nope. I'm done. I'll see you at school tomorrow, Lydia," Aiden says before I hear him storm off.

I step out from behind the tree, revealing myself to Lydia. "You heard all of that, didn't you?" she asks me. She doesn't even wait for me to respond before adding, "Of course you did."

"Are you going to be okay?" I ask.

"Yeah. I knew it was going to end sooner or later," Lydia says, shrugging.

"You sure?" I ask.

"Yeah," Lydia says. "C'mon, you can walk me to my car. I need to get home."

* * *

We arrive at my house ten minutes later. By the time we get there, everyone else has left. "Thanks for coming over tonight, and then getting everyone together to find me," I say, scratching the back of my head awkwardly.

"No problem, I guess," Lydia says. "See at school tomorrow, Stiles." Lydia starts walking to her car, but I grab her by the arm. She turns back to me.

"What?" she asks me.

"Um…just be safe, alright? Just because I nearly died doesn't mean you should, too," I say, causing Lydia to crack a smile.

"I'll try my best, Stiles, see you tomorrow," Lydia starts to walk off, but she catches herself and turns back to me. She goes on her tiptoes and kisses me softly on the cheek. I feel my cheeks go warm.

"Yeah…see you," I say. I then turn and walk towards the door to my house. I wait on the porch until I see Lydia's car turn the corner, disappearing my from sight.

I walk into school on Monday with Scott hurrying up to me. "So anything happen between you and Lydia after everyone left?" he asks me, grinning.

"Why would have anything happen between me and her?" I ask, puzzled.

"Because she kissed you last night," Scott says. "Dude, that's the second time in one month. You should be happy about that."

"How did you find out she kissed me last night? Did she tell you?" I ask.

"She didn't have to, Stiles, I could just see it on her face," Scott says.

I let out a sigh. "It doesn't matter anyways, she's still with Aiden, which is very confusing," I say as we continue to walk down the hallway.

Scott furrows his brow. "Uh, no she's not. The two broke up last night. Aiden told me before you got here this morning," Scott tells me.

"Are you joking?" I ask.

"Why would I joke about this?" Scott asks me.

"I don't know, maybe because you feel like being a heartless douche to me this morning," I shrug. "But seriously, those two are done?" A smile creep across his face.

"You already knew, didn't you?" Scott asks me.

"Yup. I heard it all go down," I say with a proud smirk on my face.

"So what are you going to do?" Scott asks me.

"I have no idea, Scott," I begin, I have no idea. Lydia catches my eye sight on her from the down hallway. She makes her way towards me.


End file.
